Gregg Popovich Hates the Term ‘World Champions’

Pop truly is the best, as the Boston Herald reveals: “The Spurs coach isn’t disputing any of Bill Russell’s titles, and he isn’t saying the Lakers actually beat the Celts in 2008. But he is a bit perturbed by the use of the word ‘world.’ ‘There are no world champions in the NBA, so anybody that has the flag up that says world champions is not correct,’ said Popovich prior to last night’s 94-73 Spurs win. ‘It’s not appropriate. The world champions, I believe, are the Spanish team right now. USA is the Olympic champion. The Lakers are the NBA champion. It doesn’t make sense for an NBA team to call themselves world champions. I don’t remember anybody playing anybody outside our borders to get that tag. Isn’t that true? I keep waiting for somebody to tell me I’ve missed something.’ When someone mentioned Toronto, Pop said, ‘There’s a team in Canada. That’s true. The world’s bigger than North America. I know sometimes we as arrogant Americans don’t respond to the rest of the world, but it’s true. There’s a big world out there.’”